Friday, March 21, 2014

The 1928 Beaux-Arts Institute of Design -- No. 304 E 44th Street

In 1878, as the Paris Exposition was being organized, New
Yorker David Maitland Armstrong was made director of the American art
section.On the continent—and indeed in
many drawing rooms of America’s wealthy-- the concept of “American art” was
laughable.When the Exposition was over,
no one was laughing.

The New-York Tribune reported “the result was one of the
great triumphs of his career and resulted in his election as a chevalier of the
Legion of Honor.It was the real
initiation of the French people into a realization that such a thing as
American art existed.”

Nevertheless, American art and architecture students who
studied at the Ecole Nationale et Speciale des Beaux-Arts in Paris came home
with a special prestige.Those lucky—and
wealthy—enough to attend to Ecole received what was at the time the world’s
most esteemed training in classical, academic architecture.

In 1893 a group of architects who had studied at the Ecole
formed the Society of Beaux-Arts Architects.The organization was intended to bring the principals of French design
and composition to America; as well as to carry on the discipline and concepts
of the French academy.

The Society broadened 23 years later when in 1916 it founded
the Beaux-Arts Institute of Design.Aspiring architects could now receive instruction in the French
tradition in New York under a provisional charter of the University of New
York.The private stable of millionaire
Jacob Schiff was purchased in 1914 and by 1915 the Institute was fully established
in its new home.

The institute soon expanded—offering courses in the
decorative arts (sculpture and painting), followed by interior decoration in
1921.To enable students to study here
for free (only a registration fee was required), funds were raised through the
annual and fashionable Beaux-Arts Ball (a lavish costume ball), the sale of
advertising in the Society’s yearbook, and general contributions.

By the early 1920s it became obvious that the old stable
building was no longer adequate.Growth
and added areas of study were taxing the old space and certain departments—mural
painting and sculpture, for instance—required large areas.In October 1927 two old rowhouses at Nos. 304
and 306 East 44th Street were purchased for $85,000.The old school in what was now Manhattan’s
most exclusive residential district was sold for about twice that amount.

A competition for the design of the new Beaux-Arts Institute
of Design was initiated and a jury of six was selected to choose the winning
entry.Professional architect members of
both the Beaux-Arts Institute of Design and the Society of Beaux-Arts
Architects were informed on October 13, 1927 that the competition would be held
a month later, on November 17, 1927 at 12:00.The winner would be chosen at 4:00 that same afternoon.

Participation in the competition was essentially
mandatory.Architects submitting designs
were charged a $25 entry fee; those who sat out the competition were charged
$35.The money would be used as part of
the building fund.

Seventy-two of the nation’s most respected architects
submitted designs, among them Raymond Hood, William Lamb, Ralph Walker and
Chester Aldrich.The applicants had been
given a precise list of design requirements.At 4:00 on the afternoon of November 17 the winning design of British-born
Frederic C. Hirons, of Dennison and Hirons, had been chosen.

Plans for the four-story structure were not filed with the
Bureau of Buildings until February 4, 1928.In reporting on the filing, The New York Times noted that “Dennison
& Hirons, the architects, estimate the cost at $100,000.”That amount—about $1.3 million today-- hinted
at a formidable new building.

Six months later the newspaper updated its readers on the
progress.“Work is progressing rapidly
on the new home of the Beaux Arts Institute of Design at 304 East 44th
Street,” it said.

“An outstanding feature of the building will be three
polychrome terra cotta panels in the façade, ranking with the finest work of
that kind in the United States.The
colors will be shaded and blended as if done in oil or water colors.They will picture the Parthenon in Athens,
St. Peter’s Church in Rome and the court yard of the Ecole des Beaux Arts in
Paris, those three cities being symbols of sculpture, painting and architecture.”

The Times noted that at the time the institute “has several
hundred members.”

In 1928 the fluffy, overly-ornamented Victorian and
Edwardian building styles had given way to Art Deco—the visual arts style born
in France following the war.The
sometimes brassy new style looked to celebrated the modern age in bold colors,
sharp geometric shapes, and stylized forms.The style would result in ziggurat skyscrapers, chrome-covered diners,
and lavish lobbies that would represent, for decades, the visage of Manhattan
world-wide.

Hirons’ completed buff brick building was a severe study in
no-nonsense Art Deco.With no zig-zagging
lighting bolts, no stylized waterfalls and none of the Rockefeller Center
glitz; it made only temperate use of visual design.Two Greek-styled sculptural panels depicting
architecture flanked the parapet at the fourth floor and carved Art Deco
capitals capped the muscular brick three-story piers.Above the double-height entrance, gutsy Deco
lettering announced the Institute’s name.Three limestone blocks at the second floor openings were intended to
hold sculptural allegories of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture; but the
plan was never executed when the necessary funds were not raised.

The piece de resistance, of course, was the three terra
cotta panels described earlier by The New York Times.Designed by Hirons’ favorite architectural
sculptor, Rene Chambellan, they were produced by the Atlantic Terra Cotta
Company.(Hirons and Chambellan were
already working together on a new project--the Art Deco State Bank & TrustCo. Building on 43rd Street and Eighth Avenue).

With the Institute in its new home, the Society continued
its regimen, including the annual Beaux Arts Ball.On January 24, 1930, despite the ongoing
Great Depression, the event did not hold back on the expected grandeur.Noting that “The proceeds of the ball are
devoted to the education work of the Beaux Arts Institute of Design, which
gives instruction in architecture, painting and sculpture to deserving
students,” The New York Times described the upcoming Ball on January 5 at the
Astor Hotel.

“This year the grand ballroom, to be known as ‘il Palazzo,’
will be decorated to represent the great central court of the Palace of Lorenzo
the Magnificent in Florence.From the
main cornice surrounding the court, enormous drapes of red and gold will be
suspended and these will be drawn apart with golden cords and tassels to reveal
the balconies in which the nobility will assemble to view the historic pageant.”

The “pageant” was to represent scenes in the French court during
the Renaissance and the court of Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain.The cast of the production included more than
300 “people of high station in society and the arts.”

The north ballroom, said the newspaper, “will be styled ‘il
Cortile’ and will be treated as a walled garden through which the entrance to
the grand ballroom will be made.The
south ballroom will be called ‘il Mercato’ and all the wares appropriate to the
market place will be displayed lavishly therein.”

The Times described fountains, statuary, vases and flowers
and added “The splendor of this setting will be further enhanced by the throng
of several thousand guests, all garbed in the luxurious costumes of the
Renaissance.”

Within the next decade the Beaux-Arts Institute of Design
building was purchased by the Reeves Sound Studios and converted to offices, recording
studios, editing labs and viewing theaters.Today it is home to Egypt’s Permanent Mission to the United States.

2 comments:

The lyrics for Rodgers and Hart's song, " The Lady is a Tramp", include the following line in the introduction: Alas I missed the Beaux Art Ball and what is twice as sad, I was never at a party where they honored Noel Cad.